Chapter 7 - THE FLOOR ABOVE THE RIVER
Nikolai stepped into the emergency light with both hands visible.
Viktor tightened his grip around Sophie.
“You were told to remain outside.”
“I stopped following orders when you took my son.”
“Drop the gun.”
“I have none.”
Viktor searched his jacket with one hand while keeping Sophie against him.
Nikolai was telling the truth.
“No vest?”
“No.”
“No transmitter?”
“Your men can check.”
Viktor laughed.
“My men?”
Movement sounded somewhere above the warehouse.
Police had entered, but not every figure in the building belonged to them.
Dmitri had sent a second team.
Viktor looked toward Nikolai.
“Transfer the shipping vote.”
“You can have it.”
Sophie felt Viktor’s body change with surprise.
Nikolai continued.
“You can have the ports, the warehouses, the companies, and every account attached to my name.”
“You expect me to believe you would surrender everything?”
“For Kolya, yes.”
“And the waitress?”
Nikolai’s eyes moved toward Sophie.
“Her too.”
Viktor smiled.
“Interesting.”
He believed Nikolai’s concern for Sophie represented desire.
It did not.
Not yet.
It represented debt, respect, and the unbearable knowledge that she kept protecting his child when his own household failed.
Kolya looked down.
The concrete beneath his chair vibrated.
A line appeared between two floor panels.
Water glistened below.
The chair had been positioned on a freight hatch above a river loading channel.
A cable connected the chair legs to an electric release.
If triggered, the hatch would open and drop Kolya into the freezing water beneath the warehouse.
The boy began shaking.
“Sophie.”
She followed his gaze.
Viktor noticed.
He pressed the gun harder against her.
“One warning.”
Sophie stared at Kolya.
“Keep both feet on the chair.”
He understood.
If the floor opened, he needed to avoid being caught beneath the moving panels.
Nikolai saw the cable.
His expression remained controlled.
“How do you want the transfer completed?”
Viktor pointed toward a laptop on the crate.
“Sign digitally.”
“Dmitri knows my vote cannot be transferred without independent verification.”
“He has the verifier.”
A man stepped from the shadows above.
Henry Pollard, general counsel for Sokolov Shipping.
Another trusted professional.
Another betrayal.
Nikolai looked upward.
“How much?”
Henry shrugged.
“Enough to retire.”
“Men like you never retire.”
“No. We simply change employers.”
Viktor forced Sophie toward the laptop.
“You will witness.”
“I am not a lawyer.”
“You are the innocent civilian who confirms Nikolai acted voluntarily.”
Sophie almost laughed.
“After you kidnapped his child?”
“The official record will say Kolya was recovered safely before the signing.”
“People will believe that?”
“People believe documents.”
Sophie looked toward the cameras.
“Only when they do not see what happened first.”
Viktor’s expression tightened.
She had learned the same lesson Evelyn once used in another world.
Context was power.
The watch had transmitted the conversation to Callahan.
Police waited because one wrong shot could drop Kolya into the river.
Nikolai approached the laptop.
“Release Sophie.”
“After the signature.”
“She cannot witness while a gun is against her.”
Viktor loosened his grip slightly.
That was all Sophie needed.
She drove her heel down onto his foot, twisted beneath his arm, and dropped.
Nikolai surged forward.
Viktor fired.
The bullet struck the laptop.
Sparks exploded.
At the same instant, Henry activated the floor release.
The panels opened beneath Kolya.
His chair dropped.
Sophie caught one arm.
Nikolai caught the other.
The chair tore away into the water below.
Kolya hung between them above the dark river channel.
Viktor ran toward the side exit.
Police entered.
Sophie’s hands slipped on Kolya’s wet sleeve.
Nikolai pulled with all his strength.
The boy cried out.
The floor mechanism continued widening.
Sophie lost her grip.
Kolya fell.
May you like
Nikolai lunged after him without hesitation, disappearing into the black water below.
Continue to the next part: Sophie dives into the river channel after Nikolai and Kolya, while Viktor escapes carrying the only device that can expose Dmitri.
